Hingham pulls away late

Wednesday

The Hingham High School girls basketball team sealed its sixth Patriot League win with a 15-8 fourth-quarter run Tuesday night, but there were not many smiles on the home team’s bench at game’s end.

Hingham was tested much harder than expected by Pembroke in the 53-38 win.

“One team came ready and one team didn’t,” Hingham coach Dave Hickey said. “(Pembroke) played their hearts out and actually deserved a better fate, but that happens. We finally got it together, but I’m not happy.

“I don’t know how to get across to them, if you don’t come ready, I don’t care who you’re playing, you are going to be a step behind.”

Hingham (7-6, 6-3) got off to a disappointing start, missing several open layups before putting the first points on the board. The Titans (3-10, 1-10) kept the score even for the first quarter and would have ended the frame tied had it not been for a Kaitlyn Smith runner with three seconds left.

“She saved our butts tonight,” Hickey said of Smith, who scored a game-high 16 points, controlled the game’s pace and was a force on the boards. “We were missing Rachel (Kalman), our other captain, so it’s nice to have that to fall back on. She’s a four-year starter and just has so much experience.”

The Titans continued to be a thorn in Hingham’s side in the second quarter, battling back from an eight-point deficit to get the score within two midway through the frame. A late Hingham run sent the Titans into the locker room at the half down, 27-20.

“It’s hard; we don’t have numbers so they get tired and it wears on them,” Pembroke coach Melissa Murphy said of her players. “They played unbelievable tonight. This is the first time they really looked like a team as a whole.

“I didn’t expect to be within six points of Hingham heading into the fourth quarter.”

Hickey did not expect the game to be so close either, and he let his players know it before the start of the final quarter. In an instant, Hingham’s press went from one that Pembroke had little trouble breaking all game to one that the Titans struggled with, and the shooting problems that plagued Hingham in the first half disappeared.

Hingham’s Sarah Fisher and Alicia Maccarrone both finished with 11 points, with Maccarrone netting three 3-pointers, two of which came on consecutive possessions.